Hairpin



E. C. BURNS HAIRPIN July 18, 1939.

Filed Nov. 241' 1937 3nnentor Era elf 6734/05 Patented July 18, 1939UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a hair pin, and one object of the invention isto provide a hair pin of such construction that it is provided withjaws.

and a handle. the handle serving as means for urging the jaws towardseach other to a gripping position and also serving as means for movingthe jaws away from each other so that the pin can be easily thrust intoplace through the hair.

Another object of the invention is to provide.

a hair pin having a handle of such construction that it may be veryeasily gripped and firmly held while pressure is applied to move thejaws away from each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide the hair pin with anauxiliary spring for its handle, the spring being formed from a cut fromthe handle. It will thus be seen that the spring is formed integral withthe handle and will not be liable to become detached and lost.

U Another object of the invention is to provide a hair pin which isformed from a single strand of material and is of a strong and durableconstruction.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure1 is a perspective view of a hair pin of the improved construction.

Figure 2 is a view of the improved hair pin, the view being partially inside elevation and partially in longitudinal section.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a hair pin of a modified construction.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of another modified form of hair pin.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a hair pin havingshorter and widerjaws.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of another modified form of hair pin.

The hair pin illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is '49 formed from a stripof resilient material such as spring metal'or any other desired materialwhich possesses sufficient resiliency and is capable of being bent tothe desired configuration. This strip is of appreciable width andpreferably of a ribbon-like formation so that when it is bent to formjaws of the hair pin, these jaws will have fiat faces confronting eachother. The strip is bent midway its length and then reversely to providejaws l and 2 havingdiverging handles 3 and 50 4 between which is'locateda V-shaped spring 5 having its arms integrally united to the outer endsof the handles. It will be readily appreciated that the spring normallyurges the jaws towards each other to grip hair between them and 55 thatwhen the handles 3 and d are grasped be- Application November 24, 1937.Serial No. 176,317

tween a thumb and finger and pressure applied thereto. the jaws will besprung apart so that they may be readily thrust through hair into placeto grip the hair when the handles are released. The free end of the jawI is bent laterally to pro-- vide a tongue 6 which extends diagonallyfrom the jaw 2 and constitutes a guide for directing hair between thejaws as the pin is inserted. Instead of forming the jaw 1 straight fromthe tongue 6 to its handle 3, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, this jaw maybe crimped, as shown at 1 in Figure 3. and thus increase the grippingaction of the jaws when the hair pin is in use. By comparing Figure 4with Figure 2 will also be seen that the inner end of the V,-shapedspring .15 may be in contact with the inner or front ends of thehandlesor spaced therefrom. It should be noted, however, that in both instancesthe handles converge forwardly toward front ends of arms of the springand together therewith form loops to receive hair when the pin is in useand thrust forwardly through a persons hair. By having front endportions of the handles make contact with arms of the spring at theforward ends thereof, the entrances of the hair receiving loops will benormally closed. but the handles will be urged away from the spring toopen the entrances when the rear ends of the handles are gripped andpressure applied to compress the spring and move the jaws l and 2 awayfrom each other. Therefore. hair may enter one or both of the loops asthe pin is thrust into place and when'the handles are released andreturn to their normal positions. the entrances of the loops will beclosed to confine hair therein and hair between contacting portions ofthe handles and the front end of the spring firmly gripped in additionto hair being gripped between the jaws I and 2. This will not only aidin holding the pin in place but also allow it to be entirely thrust intoa persons hair Where it will be concealed from view. It is desired toincrease the resiliency of the spring and thus cause hair to be veryfirmly grip ped. In order to do so. there has been provided a bowed leafspring 8 which is cut from one arm of the V-shaped spring and bent sothat it extends laterally from the outer or rear end thereof towards therear end of the other arm of the spring 5. At the junction of this armof 50 the V-shaped spring with the handle 4. an open-' ing 9 is formedto snugly receive the hook or bill [0 of the leaf spring, thereby firmlyanchoring the initially free end of this spring and causing the leafspring to be tensioned with an out- 55 ward bow and aid materially innormally holding the jaws towards each other.

Instead of forming the hair pin as shown in Figures 1 through 3, it maybe formed as shown in Figure 4. In this embodiment of the invention thepin is formed from a strand which is initially circular in cross sectionand has its free end portions flattened so that when the strand is bentto form the jaws H and I2 corresponding to the jaws I and 2, these jawswill have flat faces. The intermediate portion of the strand is bent toform the handle l3 which is of U- shape formation and has its armscrossed to provide crossed forks I4 from which the jaws extend. Portionsof arms of the handle are flattened, as shown at I5, to providefinger-engaging portions adapted to be engaged by the thumb andforefinger of a person using the hair pin. It will be readily understoodthat when the handle is grasped at the flattened portions and pressureapplied the jaws will be shifted away from each other and the pin thenthrust into place, after which the handle will be released and theresiliency of the handle will cause the jaws to be shifted towards eachother and grasp hair between them. This will cause the pin to be firmlheld in place.

The pin may also be formed as shown in Figure 5. The pin illustrated inthis figure is formed from an elongated sheet metal blank which isresilient and has enlarged end portions forming jaws I6 when the blankis bent to form a handle corresponding to the handle of the pin shown inFigures 1, 2 and 3 and having a U- shaped spring H, from the arms ofwhich extend the handle members or shanks ll of the jaws. No springcorresponding to the spring I is provided in this embodiment of theinvention as the strip of resilient sheet metal from which the pin isformed is of sufilcient width to impart desired resiliency to the springand the jaws will have firm gripping engagement with hair disposedbetween them. By having the jaws tapered towards their free ends andformed with rounded shoulders at their rear ends, the jaws may be easilythrust into place and also very easily withdrawn when it is desired toremove the pin.

The pin illustrated in Figure 6 is also of a modified construction. Thispin is formed of a strand of resilient metal similar to that used forthe pin shown in Figure 4 and is flattened for the major portion of itslength from its ends and bent to provide jaws l8 and 20 having shanks orhandle portions 2| integrally united to the arms of a v-shaped spring 22by curved portions 23. The spring 22 is offset transversely of thehandle members 2| and one of the arms of the spring is flattened, asshown at 24, to provide a fingerengaging portion disposed in spacedrelation to the adjacent handle member. By providing this flattenedportion, the handle members and the spring may be firmly grasped betweena thumb and finger and pressure applied to shift the jaws away from eachother while inserting the pin through a curl or other lock of hair, andwhen the pin is released, the jaws will be moved towards each other intoposition to firmly grip the hair.

While several specific embodiments of the improved pin have beenillustrated and described, each includes in'its construction a pair ofjaws having handles or shanks at their rear ends integrally united toarms of a U-shaped or V- shaped spring which serves to yieldably holdthe jaws in a gripping position but may be compressed when pressure isapplied to shift the jaws away from each other.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A hair pin comprising jaws having handle forming shanks at their rearends, a substantially V-shaped spring disposed between the shanks withits arms extending rearwardly and united to rear ends of the shanks, anda tongue out from one arm of the spring longitudinally thereof and bentto extend laterally therefrom between arms of the spring in bridgingrelation thereto with its other end anchored at the junction of theother arm of the spring with the adjacent shank.

23A hair pin comprising a strand of resilient material bent to form jawshaving handle-forming shanks diverging from their rear ends and asubstantially V-shaped spring disposed between the shanks with its armsextending rearwardly and integrally united to the rear ends of theshanks, and a resilient tongue carried by and extending from the rearend of one shank at the junction of the shank with the adjacent arm ofthe spring, said tongue extending between the .arms of the spring inbridging relation thereto and being bowed longitudinally and having itsother end formed with a bill engaged through an opening formed at thejunction of the second arm of the spring with the adjacent shank.

3. A hair pin comprising a strand of resilient material bent to formjaws having handle-forming shanks diverging from their rear ends and asubstantially V-shaped spring disposed between the shanks with its armsextending rearwardly from its bridge portion and at their rear endsintegrally united to'rear ends of the shanks, the connected shanks .andarms being spaced from each other for substantially the entire length ofthe spring to provide hair receiving space bctween them, and thecompanion arms and shanks converging forwardly with their front endportions contacting at the bridge of the spring to normally close thehair-receiving spaces and cause hair to befirmly gripped at the bridgeof the spring and the pin firmly held in place.

4. A hair pin comprising a strand of resilient material bentintermediate its length to form hair-receiving loops having entrances attheir front ends and constituting a spring, the end portions of saidstrand forming jaws extending forwardly from outer walls of the loops.

5. A hair pin comprising a strand of resilient material bentintermediate its length to form hair-receiving loops having foiwardlyconverging inner and outer side walls and contacting to form normallyclosed entrances at the front ends of the loops, the end portions ofsaid strand forming jaws extending forwardly from the outer side wallsof the loops.

6. A hair pin comprising a strand of resilient material bentintermediate its length to form hair-receiving loops having forwardlyconverging inner and outer side walls and contacting to form normallyclosed entrances at front ends of the loops, the inner walls beingunited at their front ends and forming a spring, and the end portions ofsaid strand forming. jaws extending forwardly from the outer side wallsof said loops and urged toward each other by the spring.

EVERETT C. BURNS.

